Question for you reloaders?

[drac0nic]

Ref. Lee's little "Reloader" press let me suggest a different perspective.

First, it's a single stage and therefore sorta slow - but no slower than any other S.S. - and I'm slow too. I have the proper machinist measurement gages to test for press "spring" under the stress of FL sizing .30-06. Neither of my two Reloaders spring enough to measure! Doing identacle testing on my big 'ol green RC II results in an easily seen spring of 2-3 thou. Obviously the big iron press is "stronger" over all but, within its rational limits, the little alum alloy press is more rigid. So, I believe it's much better than just an "entry" level press.

Second, I believe the little Reloader presses are absolutely great special task tools for any serious reloader. I keep two mounted side by side on my bench; one has Lee's excellent universal deprimer die, the other has an old Lee AutoPrime II. (I just LOVE that primer station combination!)

Yeah, no debate it's a flat out bargain for the price. Never did 30-06 on it but my god I can't tell you how many times over I paid for that press making .38 SPL/357 mag on it. I've had one fairly nice (and now 2) nice progressive presses and am going to get an APP when it comes out. Somehow I suspect that little Lee's gonna be on my bench somewhere anyways. They're also great for mounting to a board, take a C-clamp with it and a towel and you can mount it to a table and crank out ammo anywhere. Yeah it's not quite as bulk free as their hand presses but still darn handy. I spent many hours when my son was younger at the kitchen table loading ammo. He'd take a bath and it would give me 30-45 minutes to play around, I'd be at the table working away.

Also, if I was you I'd introduce a travel limiter for the Auto Prime II so you can "short stroke" it when you are priming, perhaps even alter the throw if it's a dedicated press.

[Rich/WIS]

I too have a mix of tolls and dies, and the decision point for me is what I like best. Started out with Lee double cavity molds and switched to RCBS because I liked the bullet designs better, but all my molds are now either Lee six cavity or NOE five cavity. Have had 10# pots by Lee, Lyman (my first) and SAECO and 20# pots by Lyman and Lee. Still have the Lee 20# and find it excellent. My dies are a mix of RCBS, Hornady, Lyman and CH4D, but most were purchased used. Not sure why but prefer the Hornady dies. Found the Lee powder measure worked great for stick powders, but for fine powders prefer the old Bonanza fixed rotor hand held measure, the Lyman 55's for flake powders, and a RCBS for ball powders. Have a used Lyman T mag turret for pistol, a RCBS Rock Chucker for rifle and use the little Lee C press for priming with their Auto Prime II. I had a Lee Challenger but had bought it for my son and he took it when he moved, got the RCBS used at a good price but otherwise would have bought another Lee. Only difference I notice is the Lee handled spent primers better. My first press was a Lyman Spartan but replaced it to get something with compound leverage to save wear and tear on me. Had some Lee dies but they went with the pistols I was using them for. Agree on the lock rings, prefer the kind that lock.

[EDG]

I ran a test on much heavier presses about 50 years ago using a .0005 Brown and Sharpe dial test indicator. The Pacific Deluxe C press with the cobra style reinforcing gussets sprang .007 to .008.
The first model RCBS Rockchucker sprang open .001 to .002 when FL sizing SL 54 30-06 brass that had been fired in a machine gun. I would expect the little Lee Reloader to spring much more since it is not very rigid or strong. You can easily verify this assertion by googling "broken Lee press". Click on images to find photos of presses with broken frames that have been over powered by the linkage.

Ref. Lee's little "Reloader" press let me suggest a different perspective.

First, it's a single stage and therefore sorta slow - but no slower than any other S.S. - and I'm slow too. I have the proper machinist measurement gages to test for press "spring" under the stress of FL sizing .30-06. Neither of my two Reloaders spring enough to measure! Doing identacle testing on my big 'ol green RC II results in an easily seen spring of 2-3 thou. Obviously the big iron press is "stronger" over all but, within its rational limits, the little alum alloy press is more rigid. So, I believe it's much better than just an "entry" level press.

Second, I believe the little Reloader presses are absolutely great special task tools for any serious reloader. I keep two mounted side by side on my bench; one has Lee's excellent universal deprimer die, the other has an old Lee AutoPrime II. (I just LOVE that primer station combination!)

[GregLaROCHE]

Lee products versus other brands can sure start a good debate!

[Rcmaveric]

Lee products versus other brands can sure start a good debate!

They dont always stay this civil. Lol

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

[Land Owner]

My Mentor used green tools, taught me on green tools, and now I have many duplicates from his estate. I miss him a lot.

It is Christmas and Lee's (red) Classic Cast next to RCBS' (green) Rockchucker on my bench matches the spirit of the season.

[Greg S]

When I started in 1986, I bought what was avaialable where I was stationed (Fulda, FRG) or available through mail order. I kinda developed a brand loyalty to RCBS because of this cause everything I got worked. There was some other purchases that either worked or went down the road. Now adays, folks go on the net and are inundated with variius brands. Not so 30-35 years ago.

[dverna]

If the question is limited to dies and molds, then I have both Lee and more expensive tools.

For pistol shooting, any minor mold or die quality difference will mean nothing to the vast majority of users. But I use Dillon pistol dies as they can be cleaned from lube build up easily. I have some Lee molds but will never buy more as I will be using a Master Caster for producing bullets.

The couple of Lee rifle die sets I have/had worked OK. For whatever reason, I got better accuracy from the name brand dies. So I stopped buying Lee dies. Not enough of a saving for something that will last a lifetime.

[cat-mechanic]

Fw Arms

https://fwarms.com/shop/reloading/f-...nter-decapper/

Yes, these are awesome. I have 2 of them.

[cat-mechanic]

I started out with several brands of reloading equipment. But now, nearly everything is Dillon. I don't think Dillon is superior, however they stand behind their products and I don't live far from them. If I have an issue. I can get it taken care of. So my loaders have turned blue, my dies are all Dillon, and I have cranked out thousands of rounds.

Do I think any less of the other brands? No. They provide some quality innovation.

[skeettx]

I like the lee powder dies and disk powder measure.
I set them up on Hornady Pro-Jectors for larger pistol calibers
Mike

[1hole]

The couple of Lee rifle die sets I have/had worked OK. For whatever reason, I got better accuracy from the name brand dies. So I stopped buying Lee dies. Not enough of a saving for something that will last a lifetime.

I don't question your experience a bit but doubt the accuracy difference you found came from anything but the normal variation of SAAMI tolerances for all specified dimensions. I've had friends who brought over quite few of their dies for me to make sizer chamber casts for measurement. We found the very "best" and "worst" sizer dimensions were both from RCBS. (I put best and worst in quotes because the "best" has to be the die that best suits the user's chamber, not some specific range of numbers. And chambers vary too.)

As a side issue, note that in a previous post I said my little red Reloader presses are - within their limits - more rigid than my RC II; I did NOT say they are stronger than cast iron or can't be broken by ham-fisted users. (Nothing is passed the destructive skills of sufficiently clumsy users, I've seen web photos of broken green top straps on Rock Chuckers!)

[curiousgeorge]

When I started loading for .38 specials in the late 1970's, Lyman pistol dies with a carbide sizer cost about the same as RCBS steel sizing dies so that's what I bought. Over 42 years later I can look around my basement reloading area and see Lyman, Lee, RCBS, Hollywood, C-H, Hornady, Pacific, Dillon, Forster, Herters, Star, and Texan presses, powder measures, trimmers, and dies. I currently am using 16 presses, 14 powder measures, 6 case trimmers (plus Lee), and over 80 sets of dies. I have Saeco and Lee bottom pour pots, Lyman, RCBS, Hensley & Gibbs, Saeco, and Lee bullet moulds. I have owned or tried to use as many pieces of reloading tools that I could get my hands on.

In my usage I have found that every manufacturer regardless of brand makes some items that I have found to work better than others or just seems to fit my needs in a way that the competition doesn't.

And I for one have been pleased to see the civility shown by most even when discussing their not favorite brands. And most of all, look at all the choices we have in equipment and price ranges. Innovations by any one of the makers has led to better equipment and reductions in pricing for all of us.

Isn't competition great!!!!